Massive fire guts over 40 shops in Hyderabad’s old city

Hyderabad: A massive fire broke out in a shopping complex in the old city of Hyderabad early Monday morning, gutting over 40 garment shops. Fortunately, no casualties were reported.

According to police, the fire started in a garment shop on the third floor of a building and quickly spread to the second and fourth floors, engulfing multiple shops in flames. The blaze erupted in Madina & Abbas Towers Wholesale Market in Deewan Dewdhi, a busy commercial hub near the iconic Madina Building.

The fire department received an emergency call around 2:15 a.m., and multiple fire engines were immediately dispatched. At least eight fire tenders battled the flames for over seven hours before bringing the situation under control.

Thick, dark smoke blanketed the area, causing panic among locals. As the shops were closed at the time of the incident, fire personnel faced challenges in accessing the affected stores. Firefighters had to forcibly break open shutters to contain the flames.

The presence of highly flammable materials such as garments, polyester fabric, and hosiery items fueled the fire’s rapid spread, making firefighting efforts even more difficult. Though the fire was doused, smoke continued to rise from the gutted shops for hours.

As news of the fire spread, shop owners rushed to the scene, devastated by the massive property loss. Officials suspect that a short circuit may have triggered the fire, though an exact cause is yet to be confirmed.

Police have registered a case and launched an investigation. A detailed assessment of the property damage will be conducted after collecting information from shop owners.

With IANS inputs